Not to drag things back to Lil B, but he just jumped on the beat from David Banner's awkward and preachy "Swag" and murdered the fuck out of it. What's nuts is that I've listened to hundreds of Lil B tracks and this is the first time I've heard him actually drop a straight on-the-beat flow, which is a weird reminder that everything about his aesthetic is entirely intentional.

I am listening to Cuban Linx Pt II for the first time. I dunno why it took me so long to get around to it. And while it IS pretty/very good, it's not really close to reaching the heights of its predecessor, and you know all the reviews and shit I saw at the time were placing it side by side with that shit.

Also, I know Reasonable Doubt is regarded as being a stone cold classic, but exactly how hard does it bite Cuban Linx? Jigga was a Shark Nigga.

Yeah, the sequel is nowhere near the level of the original, which is pretty much inevitable when you're talking about one of the best albums of all time across all genres. Meth's verse on "House Of Flying Daggers" justifies just about anything, though.

Not to drag things back to Lil B, but he just jumped on the beat from David Banner's awkward and preachy "Swag" and murdered the fuck out of it. What's nuts is that I've listened to hundreds of Lil B tracks and this is the first time I've heard him actually drop a straight on-the-beat flow, which is a weird reminder that everything about his aesthetic is entirely intentional.

Let's not forget the godfather of mafia rap, Kool G Rap. Here's a favorite of mine even though it's not one of his mafia raps, "Men at Work". Probably my favorite old school straight up boasting joint.

Rappers evaporate to vapor, I drop science on paperand then build a skyscraper.When I die, scientists will preserve my brain.Donate it to science to answer the unexplained.

When I die, scientists will preserve my brain.Donate it to science to answer the unexplained.

As I'm sure you're aware, Ron Paul has proposed cutting $7 billion from the NIH budget as well as eliminating over $10 billion in science/research-related federal programs, so even if Kool G donates his brain it'll probably just end up on Ebay

Not to drag things back to Lil B, but he just jumped on the beat from David Banner's awkward and preachy "Swag" and murdered the fuck out of it. What's nuts is that I've listened to hundreds of Lil B tracks and this is the first time I've heard him actually drop a straight on-the-beat flow, which is a weird reminder that everything about his aesthetic is entirely intentional.

yeah the beats on the b. coming easily ace the blueprint. they both have a very cohesive feel obviously, but i've always felt that print had a bit of gimmicky aspect to its solidity, by which i mean that the roc the world sound was the jam at the time, and jay basically had that pallet to rely on. otherwise, it's not that conceptually cohesive. on the other hand, the b. coming definitely is. beans really goes in more and more deeply on many of the same topics each time. he has the time and space to nuance everything he touches. the beats work with the lyrical subtleties across the record. i see this on blueprint but much less consistently. jay definitely reads the beats incredibly well, otherwise it wouldn't be a classic, but i don't feel he's able to gauge them as finely as beans, and jay certainly doesn't paint as vivid a singular portrait as sigel (mainly because jay is interested in selling records, but whatever).didn't know that about black rob though, crazy shit. wasn't black rob every year supposed to have a comeback of some sort?re: banner. if i were b, david fucking banner is the last person in the whole of hip hop that i'd start shit with. banner may have had more missteps than goodsteps in his lengthy career (though crooked lettaz is pretty much unimpeachable), but for real, the man has been one of the most articulate voices in hip hop w/r/t a substantial racialized politic and he's a goddamn good rapper."i own swag" remix featuring david banner! do, it! do, it! do, it!

uhh yeah. killer mike is basically banner 2.0. banner was doing the southern cube thing about a half decade before killer mike stepped on the scene, nearly a full decade before mike dropped pledge 1. prior to that tape, mike only had hints of political cohesion. monster and the killer are both a far cry from the work that comes after.you know i love me some bang bang bang though.

I'm with Shai on that - Killer Mike is great, but in terms of archetypes he's filling the exact same spot Banner held up through Certified. The Spare Clips mixtape in 2007 was also pretty tight, but Banner definitely seemed to lose his way after that. Seems like a lot of the old guard couldn't transition to digital very well.

But if Banner's going to come at the youf with disorganized, preachy "conscious" attacks (weird for a guy who made bank off "Play" and "Like A Pimp" but you know) he's looking to catch shots, and Lil B's really the only one who would.

Part of the problem/charm in The Blueprint is that the whole thing was put together from beginning to end in like two weeks. That's remarkable and lends to a certain live feel, but it also means that the composition isn't as strong as the B. Coming, where it seems like Sigel had time to really stew on each beat and collect his thoughts. "Bread & Butter" is just insane, for instance.

I love Mississippi too much to ever hate on David Banner. I've quietly pretended he's stopped making music though.

Yeah, I mean, this is my problem more than anything. In 2003 he was making a point of calling George Bush a "pussy-ass nigga" over and over and declaring "America ain't shit," and he felt genuinely dangerous, but his politics have become muddled on some fronts and extremely problematic on others--the homophobic bits (and the gender/sexual politics, generally) on Death of a Pop Star make me more uncomfortable than anything Tyler's spit.

And eeeeven when Killer Mike gets in church-mode he does it better than Banner's been doing it.